Danny Hodgson & the CHL Top 50 Players of the Last 50 Years

The Canadian Hockey League (CHL) revealed their Top 50 Players of the last 50 Years on February 10^th 2026 and the list included those their panelists considered 50 of the best players from 1976 to present. Their website also offers fans an opportunity to engage in voting for their top ten from the 50 players so the CHL can ultimately determine the order of those top 50 players. Participation offers a chance for voters to win a trip to the 2026 Memorial Cup Championship Game in beautiful Kelowna, B.C. How’s that for some incentive?

The list included many familiar names from the last five decades including: Carey Price, Grant Fuhr, Nathan MacKinnon, Connor McDavid, and Connor Bedard to name a few. However, a glaring omission from this list was Western Hockey League (WHL) and Prince Albert Raiders legend, Danny Hodgson, which in my opinion, is a great oversight. If you are unfamiliar with the name, it is important that you look him up-he is one of the greatest CHL players ever!

The criteria to be included on this list according to their website, stated the following:

“The CHL’s Top 50 Players were selected by a panel of more than 40 media members who submitted ranked 1–50 ballots guided by a weighted evaluation framework designed to ensure consistency across eras. Panelists considered a player’s impact beyond the CHL — including NHL and international success, major awards and championships, and Hall of Fame recognition — alongside on-ice achievement in the Member Leagues, reflecting what players accomplished during their time in the WHL, OHL, and QMJHL through production, individual honours, team success, and sustained dominance. Selections also accounted for historical significance, recognizing milestones, era-defining influence, generational impact, and lasting contributions to CHL history.” (Canadian Hockey League, 2025).

I can argue until I am blue in the face as to why Danny should have been included on this list but, let’s have a deeper look at the stated criteria to see how one of the CHL’s best players ever, Danny Hodgson, meets the standard.

Selection Criteria: Panelist considered a players impact beyond the CHL – including NHL and international success, major awards and championships, and Hall of Fame recognition.

Although Danny did have a short career in the National Hockey League (NHL) due to multiple injuries including a broken nose, broken cheek bone, and major leg injury (broken leg)-which at that time they considered a career-ending injury. This all but erased his third season in the NHL with the Vancouver Canucks. Danny came into the NHL with high expectations despite being drafted in the 5^th round and 83^rd overall in the 1983 NHL Draft by the Toronto Maple Leafs. Over four seasons in the NHL, Danny played 114 games, scored 29 goals, and added 45 assists for 74 career points with the Maple Leafs and Canucks. His best season statistically in the NHL was during his rookie season as he scored 13 goals and assisted on 12 others for 25 points in 40 games. One of the highlights of his NHL career came during the 1987-88 season when he had a five point night (1 goal, 4 assists) versus the Pittsburgh Penguins to cap off a four game point scoring streak to start the season.

Image 1: Danny Hodgson NHL Statistics

Photo Source: Hockey Reference

After his last season in the NHL, Danny went to Switzerland to play in the Swiss National League A (NLA) with HC Fribourg-Grotteron during the 1989-90 season for 27 games where he scored 16 times and assisted on 18 others for 34 points. For the next two seasons, he played 66 games in the top German league for EC Hedos München and put up 73 points. After leaving Germany, Danny played in the Swiss National League B (NLB) for two seasons before moving up to the NLA for 12 seasons from 1994 until his retirement in 2006. When he finished his career in the NLA, Danny accumulated 152 goals and 272 assists for 424 points in 409 career games with five different teams and is ranked 42^nd overall in NLA all-time scoring. As a player in Switzerland, he would win two NLA League Championships with the Zürcher Schlittschuh Club (ZSC) Lions in 2000 and 2001. This was very significant as it was ZSC’s first league championship in 39 years-similar to what Mark Messier accomplished with the New York Rangers in this era. Their Lions teams in 2000 and 2001 would also win back-to-back IIHF Continental Cups as European Professional Hockey Club Champions. Following these two NLA championships, Zurich created sustained dominance and has since won an additional six NLA Championships.

Image 2: 1993-94 Sport Swiss NLA Dan Hodgson #429

Internationally, Danny found success on multiple occasions as he suited up for Team Canada twice at the IIHF World Junior Championships in 1984 and 1985. Finishing fourth in 1984, Danny returned to Captain the gold medal in 1985 and leading Canada to their first championship on European soil. Twenty-four players have played on a World Junior Championship and Memorial Championship team in the same season but, Danny is the only player to Captain both teams. Later in his professional career, Hodgson would represent Team Canada twice at the Spengler Cup finishing 3^rd in 1991 and winning the championship in 1998 while being named All-Star Centre for the tournament.

Danny has received recognition several times since retiring as he been part of multiple Hall of Fame inductions as a member of the Prince Albert Raiders hockey team for the Prince Albert Sports Hall of Fame, Saskatchewan Hockey Hall of Fame and the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame. Individually, Danny was inducted into the Wood Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame in 2008 and, in 2024, he was inducted into the North American Indigenous Athletics Hall of Fame. Additionally, the WHL announced their Top 50 Players of All Time in 2016 and Danny was #27 on the list (too far down, if you ask me). In November 2023, the Prince Albert Raiders officially retired Danny’s jersey #16 and is one of only three Raiders players ever to have their number officially retired by the club.

Selection Criteria: On-ice achievement in the Member Leagues, reflecting what players accomplished during their time in the WHL, OHL, and QMJHL through production, individual honours, team success, and sustained dominance.

The list of accolades for Danny goes on and on for his time in the WHL that brought forth much team success for the Prince Albert Raiders. The Raiders joined the WHL in the 1983 season moving up a tier from the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) where they were a powerhouse. Danny played 204 games with the WHL Raiders from 1982 until 1985 as he and his teammates took an expansion team from last place in the league in 1983 to WHL Champions & CHL Memorial Cup Champions in 1985-something unheard of.

As a player with the Raiders, he would finish with 130, 181, and 182 points in his three seasons. Overall, Danny scored 188 goals and added 305 assists for a total of 493 career points and finished top five all-time in WHL scoring as well as 16^th all-time in the CHL. In his final season with the Raiders, Hodgson also broke Bobby Clarke’s all-time WHL assists record (since broken by players who have played an exponential amount of more games). In addition to his absurd point totals and ability to win, he was the WHL Rookie of the Year in 1982-83, a Second Team All Star in 1983-84, and First Team All Star in 1984-85. Nationally, he was recognized as the CHL Player of the Year, Memorial Cup MVP, and Alberta Amateur Athlete of the Year in 1985.

Image 3: Danny Hodgson Highlights

Photo Source: Elite Prospects

Selection Criteria: Selections also accounted for historical significance, recognizing milestones, era-defining influence, generational impact, and lasting contributions to CHL history.

Based on the accolades listed above, I would say that Danny Hodgson’s impact in the CHL is of historical significance as he had multiple milestones, an era-defining influence, generational impact, and lasting contributions to CHL history. During his time with the Prince Albert Raiders, Danny set multiple club, league, and national records. As well, their 1984-85 Memorial Cup Championship is the only one in their clubs history as he set Memorial Cup records for most assists in a tournament with 13, most assists in a single game with 5, and is 2^nd all-time in points for a single tournament with 15.

Danny was also given many opportunities to be a leader with the teams he played on during his career. He had the role of Assistant Captain and Team Captain multiple times for his junior team, experience with team Canada at the world juniors, NLA teams, and with Team Canada at the Spengler Cup proving his leadership at all levels. Wendell Clark mentioned that he is the best Team Captain that he ever had during his career as they were teammates at the 1985 World Juniors with Team Canada.

As a recognized Indigenous athlete, Danny’s contributions to the game of hockey-especially in the CHL-is generational. For young Indigenous athletes to see Danny have such a significant impact on the game of hockey can be life changing. Danny moved from a small northern Alberta community as a young Cree boy to pursue his dream of playing hockey and found success at every level. He won multiple individual awards, league championships, and won internationally with his country several times. However, despite the list of accomplishments shared here, he seems to be continually forgotten for what he gave to the game of hockey. Although there are many great players on that Top 50 list, based on what he has done, his name deserves to be there too.

Image 4: Upper Deck First Peoples Rookie Cards

Summary of Individual Accomplishments:

Junior Hockey

1982-83: WHL Rookie of the Year

1983-84: WHL East Second All-Star Team

1984-85: WHL East First All-Star Team

1984-85: CHL Player of the Year

1984-85 Prince Albert Raiders Team Captain

1985: Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy Memorial Cup MVP

1983-84: 181 points in 66 games played

1985-85: 182 points in 64 games played

WHL: 493 career points (188g-305a) in 204 games

WHL: 5^th all-time league scoring

CHL: 16^th all-time league scoring

1985: Alberta Amateur Athlete of the Year

WHL Top 50 All-Time Players: #27

Professional Hockey

20 seasons of Professional Hockey

NHL: 1985-86 Toronto Maple Leafs & 1986-89 Vancouver Canucks

NHL: 114 games played, 29 goals, 45 assists, 74 points

Eishockey-Bundesliga (Germany): 66 games played, 34 goals, 39 assists, 73 points

Swiss-A (NLA) League: 409 games played, 152 goals, 272 assists, 424 points

NLA: 43^rd all-time in league scoring

International Hockey

1984 World Junior Championships: 5 points (1g-4a) in 7 games played with Team Canada

1985 World Junior Championships: Team Canada, Captain

1985 World Junior Championships: 7 points (5g-2a) in 7 games, Team Canada

1998 Spengler Cup: First Team All-Star Centre, Team Canada

1998 Spengler Cup: Team Canada, Captain

Summary of Team Accomplishments:

Junior Hockey

1984-85 WHL Regular Season Champions: Prince Albert Raiders

1985 WHL Champions: Prince Albert Raiders

1985 CHL Memorial Cup Champions: Prince Albert Raiders

Professional Hockey

1999-00 NLA Champions: ZSC Lions

2000-01 NLA Champions: ZSC Lions

2000 IIHF Continental Cup Champions: ZSC Lions

2001 IIHF Continental Cup Champions: ZSC Lions

International Hockey

1984 World Junior Championships: Team Canada 4^th Place

1985 World Junior Championships: Team Canada Gold Medal

1998-99 Spengler Cup: Team Canada Champions